CHAPTER 2

The drive was a bumpy one but it didn't seem very long before the car stopped. Bracing himself as he felt his legs grabbed, Hutch was roughly pulled out of the car and he landed hard on the ground. He was soon hauled up and dragged a small distance before being pushed to the ground. The ropes binding his hands were not too tight, but he made no effort to get away. He felt someone grabbing his ankles and tying them firmly before he was pulled into a sitting position. The blindfold was then ripped away from him, leaving him blinking and disoriented. The gag remained in place. Trying to orient himself, it took a few seconds before he could focus, and he shuddered at what was in front of him on a table. There was a chair on either side of the table, but what shook him to his core was what was on the table - drug equipment all ready for use. Oh God, he was going to be shot up again and he knew he wouldn't have the strength to fight back.

The voice of one of his kidnappers was behind him and he flinched at the harsh words.

"We're going to destroy you, Hutchinson. We've been watching you over the last few months, since your last trip and we've been planning what to do. You didn't think Mr Forrest was about to give up, did you? We followed you out here and have arranged this little outing for you." Hutch felt the nausea growing in him.

"You're gonna regret ever crossing the path of Mr Forrest. We're gonna destroy you and what you value most." The footsteps turned and retreated leaving the blond detective to ponder his fate.

Hutch wearily looked around trying to gauge where he was. It was a log cabin, but he had no idea where he was. He had no idea how far he'd been brought, but it was painfully obvious why. An experimental wriggle against his ropes was useless. He'd always known this day would come, the day when he'd have to face his demons again. It was inevitable. Maybe it was better for it all to be over with – living with the fear of discovery was proving to be destructive and he was barely functioning in his job adequately. It was probably better that he die now than to risk his partner's life again. If things went on as they had been, he knew it was only a question of time before he did do something stupid, something that would risk Starsky's life and he knew that was something he would never forgive himself for. If Starsky died because of him, well that was just not something he could deal with. Thinking about Starsky brought him to thinking about what his disappearance and death would do to him and it was his one real regret. He wished he could talk to him again, to explain, but then how could he explain what he didn't understand himself. He laid his head back down on the ground, not wanting to look at the drug paraphernalia any longer and seemingly resigned to his fate.

After several hours, with the cold starting to creep into him, he was startled at the sound of people returning. The door was pushed open and to his utter horror, he saw three men dragging a struggling Starsky through. He'd been bound, gagged and blindfolded and there was much evidence that he'd put up a major struggle. Bruises visible on his face and through his torn shirt. His abductors threw him down so that he lay a few feet in front of Hutch. He landed on his stomach and Hutch could see the cruel ropes cutting into his wrists. Giving him a swift, hard kick in the side, they turned and left the room. This had more of an effect on Hutch than anything that had happened so far and he started to struggle with his ropes, trying not to be obvious. They had to get out of this, his instinct for survival started to revive. He had to save Starsky. His bonds were not overly tight, unlike Starsky, so with a bit of luck he'd be able to work himself free. He tried to wriggle over to make contact with Starsky but before he could, the men had returned. One leaned down to cut the rope tying his ankles and he was hauled up and pushed over to a chair. The other man grabbed Starsky in a similar manner and he was pushed into the other chair which was facing Hutch.

"You see, Hutchinson, we've been watching you very carefully and have figured out that this will hurt you more than anything else we could do." Hutch was truly horrified, they were going to get to him through Starsky. But he still did not grasp the full reality until one of the men grabbed a rubber tourniquet and tied it around Starsky's arm. He felt like he was going to throw up--they were obviously going to pump his partner full of drugs and all he could do was watch.